Grandma's Best Friend

by Dawn T.
(St.Louis MO)

When I was very young, I noticed that, in every house of my family members, there was this same framed picture hanging on everyone's walls.

Curious as to why this same painting was hanging in everyone's house, I asked my grandmother. My grandmother was originally from Lenox MA. She told me that the woman in the painting was her best friend. They had known each other their entire lives.

What makes this painting even more special to both myself and my father is that out of all five children that my grandparents had, my dad's (he was the 2nd. born) Godparents were this couple in this painting, The Marriage License.

He always thought that he was special.

My grandma is gone now, and the picture that once hung in her living room for all those years now hangs on my wall. My children have asked why everyone has the same picture and I take great joy in telling them the same story that my grandma told me when I was young. Dawn St. Louis,MO

Keith's reply:Dawn, that is a wonderful story. I am sure that Joan Lahart Mahoney and her husband, Francis Mahoney, the couple in the painting, would be proud to know that you are continuing your family tradition. They were married May 21, 1955, shortly before this painting appeared on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post.

If you could find an old photograph of the couple, I would be happy to publish it on this page. They made quite the handsome couple, didn't they?